Overview

Medieval art is wordy; inscriptions and poems, commentaries and chronicles accompany and adorn it. The Art of Words presents a series of detective stories by a renowned explorer of medieval philological evidence who here examines the thought and objects of the Venerable Bede and Theodulf of Orleans. What physical objects did Bede have in mind, for example, when writing about the paintings of his monastic churches? How did he conceive of the division of biblical books into chapters? Why was the famous Libri Carolini made for Charlemagne never published? Indeed what did it mean in the Middle Ages to publish something? Pursuing the story of Bede's calendar shows how Valentine's Day began with a reference to birds. To unravel the meaning of the image of Ezra in the Codex Amiatinus the author then demonstrates the importance of knowing the books that Bede knew and wrote. The final topic is the celebrated Apse mosaic of Germigny-des-Prés, how it was saved from destruction and how Theodulf's words explain what we see. Words matter and, in these studies Paul Meyvaert constantly delights the reader with careful excavations of that place in medieval art and thought where images and words connect and collide.

Full Product Details

Author:   Paul Meyvaert
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.453kg
ISBN:  

9781138375284

ISBN 10:   1138375284
Pages:   352
Publication Date:   03 January 2019
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Contents: Preface; Bede and the church paintings at Wearmouth-Jarrow; Bede's Capitula Lectionum for the Old and New Testaments; 'In the footsteps of the fathers': the date of Bede's 30 Questions on the Book of Kings to Nothelm; Discovering the calendar (annalis libellus) attached to Bede's own copy of De Temporum Ratione; Bede, Cassiodorus and Codex Amiatinus; The date of Bede's In Ezram and his image of Ezra in the Codex Amiatinus; Dissension in Bede's community shown by a quire of Codex Amiatinus; The meaning of Theodulf's apse mosaic at Germigny-des-Prés (with Ann Freeman); Maximilen Théodore Chrétin and the apse mosaic at Germigny-des-Prés; Théodulfe et Bède au sujet des blessures du Christ (with A. Davril); Medieval notions of publication: the 'unpublished' Opus Caroli Regis Contra Synodum and the Council of Frankfort (794); Indexes.

Reviews

’The papers gathered here involve careful linguistic and artistic detective work, presented in an engaging, often personal style, and are well worthy of careful study.’ Journal of Theological Studies

'The papers gathered here involve careful linguistic and artistic detective work, presented in an engaging, often personal style, and are well worthy of careful study.' Journal of Theological Studies

Author Information

Paul Meyvaert was Executive Director of the Medieval Academy of America, and is Associate of the Department of the Classics at Harvard University, USA

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